Crayola Crayon Colors

A Timeline

1903

Binney & Smith Co. introduces the first Crayola Crayons. There are 8 colors in a box:

black

blue

brown

green

orange

red

violet

yellow

1949

There are 40 colors added:

apricot

bittersweet

blue green

blue violet

brick red

burnt sienna

carnation pink

cornflower

flesh1

gold

gray

green blue

green yellow

lemon yellow

magenta

mahogany

maize

maroon

melon

olive green

orange red

orange yellow

orchid

periwinkle

pine green

Prussian blue2

red orange

red violet

salmon

sea green

silver

spring green

tan

thistle

turquoise blue

violet blue

violet red

white

yellow green

yellow orange

1. Name changed to “peach” in 1962.

2. Name changed to “midnight blue” in 1958.

There are now 48 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1958

There are 16 colors added:

aquamarine

blue gray

burnt orange

cadet blue

copper

forest green

goldenrod

Indian red1

lavender

mulberry

navy blue

plum

raw sienna

raw umber

sepia

sky blue

1. Name changed to “chestnut” in 1999.

There are now 64 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons. For the first time, the big box comes with a built-in sharpener.

In response to educators' requests, “Prussian blue” is renamed “midnight blue.” Teachers felt that children were no longer familiar enough with Prussian history to recognize that this crayon color referred to the famous deep-blue uniforms of Prussian soldiers.

1962

Partly in response to the civil rights movement, Crayola decides to change the name of the “flesh” crayon to “peach.” Renaming this crayon was a way of recognizing that skin comes in a variety of shades.

1972

There are 8 fluorescent colors added:

chartreuse

hot magenta

ultra blue

ultra green

ultra orange

ultra pink

ultra red

ultra yellow

In 1990 these were renamed:

atomic tangerine

blizzard blue

hot magenta

laser lemon

outrageous orange

screamin' green

shocking pink

wild watermelon

There are now 72 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1990

There are 16 colors added:

cerulean

dandelion

electric lime

fuchsia

jungle green

magic mint

neon carrot

purple pizzazz

radical red

razzle dazzle rose

royal purple

sunglow

teal blue

unmellow yellow

wild strawberry

vivid tangerine

There are 8 colors retired:

blue gray

green blue

lemon yellow

maize

orange red

orange yellow

raw umber

violet blue

There are now 80 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

Crayola felt that the retired colors (and their names) were too dull to appeal to children today.

1993

There are 16 colors added:

asparagus

cerise

denim

granny smith apple

macaroni and cheese

mauvelous

pacific blue

purple mountain's majesty

razzmatazz

robin's egg blue

shamrock

tickle me pink

timber wolf

tropical rain forest

tumbleweed

wisteria

There are now 96 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

Crayon lovers chose the 16 newest color names through Crayola's “Name the New Color Contest,” part of the company's 90th anniversary celebration.

1998

There are 24 colors added:

almond

antique brass

banana mania

beaver

blue bell

brink pink

canary

Caribbean green

cotton candy

cranberry

desert sand

eggplant

fern

fuzzy wuzzy brown

manatee

mountain meadow

outer space

pig pink

pink flamingo

purple heart

shadow

sunset orange

torch red

vivid violet

There are now 120 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1999

In response to educators' requests, “Indian red” is renamed “chestnut.” Contrary to popular belief, the original name of this color was not meant to represent the skin color of Native Americans. Instead, the name referred to a reddish pigment from India that was often used in oil paints.

The new name was the winner of a contest that attracted more than 250,000 entries. Other ideas for renaming the color included “crab claw red,” “mars red,” “baseball mitt,” “red clay,” and “old penny.”

2000

Thistle was removed and replaced by indigo; torch red was given a new name, scarlet.

A number of small “specialty sets” of Crayola Crayons are available. These include glitter crayons, pearl brite crayons, and techno-brite crayons.

2003

There are 4 colors added:

inch worm

jazzberry jam

mango tango

wild blue yonder

And 4 colors are retired:

blizzard blue

magic mint

mulberry

teal blue

To mark Crayola's 100th anniversary, crayon users named four new colors and voted out four other shades.